I have fond memories of the inaugural trip to Laos twenty years ago. A big part of the travel experience is meeting wonderful travellers, two of whom I am still in touch with to this day. To be honest I almost lost my heart in Laos, and have always wanted to return to this beautiful country. Life is full of surprises and opportunities to explore the world, and I feel privileged for the chance to retrace my footsteps from all those years ago. The journal left off in Koh Samui, where I organised a flight via BKK to the capital Vientiane. It proved to be quite an expensive one way fare, but worth the cost for an effortless commute from this beautiful island in the south of Thailand. It always leaves me with a feeling of sadness leaving Koh Samui. Oh well, I hope to see you again soon!
What a thrill it is to be back in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Getting organised through immigration, arranging a travel SIM and organising a tuk tuk in to the city centre proved to be a breeze, as effortless as a vist to Thailand in fact! I checked in to the quality Remedy hostel with young smiling staff members and friendly guests, and was shown to my room. After unpacking I headed out to the markets for dinner. There’s something about the people of Laos that’s hard to describe, they exude a calm and gentle manner and it’s very endearing. I needed to get cracking, so organised a tuk tuk driver the next morning for a day of exploring the top attractions in the city. There is a stark disparity in wealth between Thailand and Laos, nevertheless the city boasts some impressive temples and also the Victory Gate, a war monument and the Laotian equivalant of the Arc de Triomphe. I had a lovely day exploring and highly recommend seeing the city from the back of a tuk tuk, with the open cabin providing welcome relief from the humidity and lack of breeze.
After a few nights in the capital the staff organised a minivan ticket for the commute to the legendary Vang Vieng. The van tore along in a fast and comfortable commute, and I enjoyed an effortless journey in the company of other backpackers. One major change from twenty years ago is the brand new highway from the capital to Vang Vieng. This major piece of intrastructure has significantly lessened the travel time between the two cities, and I checked in to the heaving Chillhouse hostel which features a bar, a restaurant and a nice pool. It seems that every backpacker in town goes to the same hostel, and the party really gets going of an evening with free beers on offer for an hour. An initial stroll through the centre of town surprised me, as it feels that Vang Vieng is a town lost in time. The poorly maintained main road and footpaths are full of potholes just as I remember from all those years ago. If a traveller were to lose focus (or be staring at their phone) you could literally end up falling down a hole. I was disappointed and somewhat surprised to realise that not a penny has been spent in trying to spruce up the town centre. Nevertheless Vang Vieng is renowned for adventure, and the horde of backpackers probably don’t give a hoot about the lack of beautification in the town centre.
The hostel offered an array of day tours, and I dutifully made my selection for the next day’s adventure. I was paired with a charismatic young influencer from China. My travel friend is full of charisma and youthful energy, it seems the rage with young influencers to livestream nowadays, and at one stage of the tour he interviewed me for his fans and translated their questions so that I could respond. Hello, it’s nice to see you China! Our day started with a kayak ride racing along with the gentle flow of the river, and a few low grade rapids just to get the heart racing. We stopped off to explore a wonderful caving area, and snapped away while enjoying the stunning rock formations. There followed lunch by the riverbank, where we teamed up briefly in a truck with adventurers on a different tour. My friend and I had plenty of time to enjoy Blue Lagoons 1, 2, and 3. The three lagoons are equally stunning and incredibly picturesque. It was getting late in the day and the guide said we should climb to a famous viewpoint in Vang Vieng, although it was not on the itinerary, and both of us only had sandals for footwear. To top things off, there had been a heavy downpour a few hours before.
Anyway, we slogged it up to the summit and posed for views with a group of British lads who were climbing by themselves. It was on the way down that things went seriously awry. I slipped and starting picking up pace in the mud. Somehow I managed to grab on to something which slowed my momentum and I was left hanging off a very steep precipice with jagged rocks and tree roots that would have seriously messed me up if I fell further as it kept getting steeper. My friend scrambled down and pulled me to safety. It was a bad scare, dear reader, and the closest I have come to having a serious, perhaps even a life threatening accident in many years. We got the rest of the way down, and washed off the worst of the mud with a hose. I bid farewell to my friend after the drive back to town, we didn’t say too muich but were both badly shaken up by the close call. If he had not been behind, me, there was no way I could have extricated myself from the predicament. I fett chastened and humbled to be basically unhurt although a little banged up, but life and the travel adventures stop for no man!
There’s a wonderful train service that gets travellers from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang in a little over an hour. I wanted to take a photo of the locomotive upon arrival, the railway staff were giving plenty of disapproving looks before banning me from taking a photo and turning me around. Oh well, sometimes you just follow the crowd. The tourists and locals alike were piled in to minivans for the ride to the city centre. After arriving at Funny Riverside Backpackers I knew straght away this is a special hostel, with a large open area and a gorgeous pool. The all female staff are friendly and efficient, and the guests incredibly open and friendly as well. I fell in with a group of French travellers, and joined them for dinner on the first night in the city. I have great memories of Luang Prabang, and the old quarter and markets are still buzzing and full ot tempting goods and tasty food to savour. I booked on a day tour to the famous Kuang Si Falls and fell in with a magic group of travellers from the hostel.
It takes around an hour to get to the falls, and they are divine. There are plenty of spots to have a swim at the multiple cascading falls as visitors gradually climb up to the summit. The main falls are picturesque and famous for good reason, it seems that every traveller to Luang Prabang gets out to the falls during their stay. The tour team enjoyed a very social visit, and just about everyone from our group bumped in to other travellers they had met while travelling through Laos. We all piled on to the minivan for the ride back to town at the end of a magical day in perfect weather, and the girls from the tour convinced me to sign up with them for a jewellery making workshop along with a couple of other lads. It was all too intricate for me with my fading eyesight, but part of a memorable day, and I was sure to buy some jewellery from the shopowners to show my appreciation. We then took a boat across the river and walked to the night market for a delicious meal.
The next morning I booked a motorbike at the hostel and headed out to the second waterfall near the town named Tol Sen. It was a good adventure and featured a trip down the river but the falls were certainly nothing to write home about, more like a few stagnant ponds full of mosquitoes and not a soul to be found. Oh well, you can’t find an attraction as good as Kuang Si Falls every day of the week! Nevertheless, I was grateful for the visit and the boat ride on the river was an added bonus. I headed back to town on the rental, and figured since I had wheels I should do a flying visit of the main attractions. Luang Prabang is a gorgeous historic town, with plenty of temples and other attractions to wile away a day, and many of the temples are free of charge. I headed back to the hostel in the afternoon, and most of the hostel team were leaving, I had one more night and went out for dinner at the night market with the only French girl left from the crew still staying at the hostel.
To conclude this journal ten nights in Laos have literally flown by. The local people are gentle, kind and friendly. I was fortunate to meet up with many wonderful and generous travellers who made my return visit after all these years an absolute pleasure. When I think about all that Laos has to offer, basically all of you should be here now!
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” Aldous Huxley
As I continue my travels, until next time it’s signing off for now
Tom
Tom's music blog can be found here:
http://www.tomrooneymusic.com
- A close call in Laos - June 9, 2026
- Amazing Thailand - June 3, 2026
- Famous islands for good reason! - June 1, 2026